Through the Looking Glass
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and twenty-nine: Spending more of his day in this new world, Jesse discovers more information.  J /R , J/AU!Q


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 15th cycle. Now cycle 16!_

* * *

**"Through the Looking Glass"  
Jesse(/Rachel), Jesse/AU!Quinn  
Sequel to "Stages Apart", "That's Some Freaky Friday Shit", "Odd Directions", "This is your life" **

Sitting in class, he couldn't stop turning it over in his head. Each issue punctuated by a tap of his pencil on the desk before him. He was in Lima, he'd been living there for a good while, he must have… But why? That was still a mystery. One thing was for certain, it had made him someone different… This he'd found from his clothes, right off the bat, and from other things through the day. And then Rachel… She wasn't there, she was… where he was supposed to be, with Vocal Adrenaline. Did she know? Was she having a backwards day of her own, or was he the only one that knew it was wrong?

Then there was the rest… Quinn, for one. It hadn't taken him long to see there was something going on between them, Quinn and… her version of him. He didn't know too much, couldn't ask her without her thinking that Slushie had done loads of damage. He couldn't tell her what was going on; he still wasn't entirely sure that telling people about it wouldn't land him in a padded cell.

There were clues, little ones… The thing with Finn, for one. He'd seen how Finn was around Puck, in his world, and that had been due to all that happened between him and Quinn, in secret… Was this it? Had Finn found out Quinn had been going around with him, Jesse, in secret? The way she'd been in the bathroom and when they'd headed off to their respective classes, it would make sense.

There didn't seem to be that much of a difference beyond what he'd seen so far. There shouldn't be, right? The way he saw it, nothing could change without his presence or her absence having a part to play. And even then, some things no doubt were supposed to happen and would find their way to exist, one way or another. If they'd won, then there was still at least twelve of them, and he was sure somehow that, except for him and Rachel, the line-up would remain unchanged.

He'd get the chance to verify that theory later that day, he knew, but until then there were classes, lunch… and Quinn. She had rejoined him, to head to the cafeteria. They walked side by side, and after a moment, he noticed… maybe he was silent because he was dealing with this thing that was happening to him, but her silence… He looked at her and it was as though she wanted to and could look at him like she had, back in the bathroom, but that ability was still so new and filled with issues that she couldn't bring herself to do it just yet… This just made him chuckle, despite himself, which made her smile… and he got to thinking maybe he could find out more, figure out what was going on, if he played along, played the part of this other Jesse. So, playing on boosting her confidence in this, he'd taken Quinn's hand. She hesitated at first, looking at him. But then she relaxed, and her hand responded to the hold… She smiled… Well, this could be trouble in the end… He saw it, just one smile…

Sitting to lunch, he wanted to know something… anything new about this world. He just kept expecting to say something that would get him found out. He could only 'keep his head down' for so long. He looked to Quinn… He'd find a way to know… "How do you think Glee practice will go?" he tried, and achieved success.

"Well, let's see… Finn won't talk to us, Puck will play solidarity and stick with him. Santana… well, I'm not talking to her and she won't talk to me… Other than that, it should be fine," she smiled sarcastically. There was his new wrinkle… He fished again…

"Santana, yeah," he nodded, and then the words flowed.

"I know it was her, she put that note on Finn's locker," Quinn spoke, nodding to herself, then to him. "She'll say it wasn't, but it has her name all over it." She paused. "He shouldn't have found out like that," she shook her head. "But then who knows how long it would have been before I got up the guts to say anything…." He looked at her, and he put his hand over hers. It seemed like the thing to do in that moment; she relaxed right away, looking at him. She breathed out.

When lunch ended, he and Quinn parted once more. Now he had more information to process. So his thing with Quinn had been a secret, as he'd figured, and been let out, probably before Sectionals, which backed up a lot of what he'd come up with as far as the 'rules' of this little world went. So far though, he couldn't see how or why he'd ended up there, or if or how he could go back.

The time finally came where Glee practice was going to start, so he headed on over. Some of them had arrived, the usual suspects. Jesse took a seat, and shortly after in came Quinn. She hesitated, and he could see why in this case. The others looked very curious to see where they'd sit. He frowned and looked back at her, indicating the seat next to him. She walked over and sat… He could see her smile.

That went away slightly, when Finn and Puck then came in. Quinn looked to them, even if they wouldn't look at her. Jesse, he looked at all three. From Quinn's face, it was clear, it wasn't all just about Finn; there was part of the story he didn't know about, and it involved Puck.

It was getting to be frustrating, how he didn't know things he was supposed to know, how he knew things that were supposed to but didn't happen, and things to come, which might not get to come because of all this. He needed answers and he wasn't getting a single one.

But as they'd later moved to the auditorium, he was unaware that, after a drive down in what was essentially his car, there was someone else at McKinley, seeking her own answers, most of all wanting to know what he was doing in her place, in New Directions.

THE END

* * *

_**[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]**_


End file.
